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Aviation
Career Testimonials from former Richmor Flight Instructors:
I started
working at Richmor Aviation in 1989 and immediately got 23 students
all working on different ratings. After leaving Richmor I did more
instructing and moved up through the ranks at Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University in Daytona Beach.
I left
Riddle after 4 years to fly a Westwind and Hawker Jet for NASCAR.
This job took me all over the country and I was building about 300
hours a year of jet time. It was great fun but as my family started
to grow I needed to be home a little more so I went back to Embry
Riddle where they needed a Boeing 737 instructor pilot. I
got type rated and am now in charge of the B-737 program and the
Bombardier CRJ 200 program at Embry Riddle.
My
time at Richmor was fun and educational. I was a new instructor
and I was always busy. I built flight time fast. The experience
was great because there were so many different things that needed
to be done. When I didn't have students I was busy doing photo flights
for local photographers or news people. I was doing scenic trips
up to Lake George. I was bringing new or repaired airplanes back
to Schenectady, or picking up a students airplane or taking them
to their vacation spot in Bar Harbor Maine or Cape Cod.
There
were introductory flights that gave you the opportunity to show
a new person how fun flying was. And there were Flight Reviews and
Instrument Competency Checks that came up once in a while. All the
students had different reasons for flying with us and their own
pace. Some fast, some slow. You name it, we did it. And the people
we worked with were fun and supportive. It was a great experience
for me, and gave me what I needed to get where I am.
Tom
Peterson
Richmor
provides an environment where students, and therefore instructors,
can succeed in achieving their goals. The networking opportunities
with the charter department is an excellent way to pursue a career
in commercial passenger flying.
Although
I left Richmor Flight School for other flying jobs, I did return
to fly with their charter department for the most enjoyable part
of my flying career. I "retired" from flying in 2001, went back
to school briefly, then took a job in the operations control center
of Flight Options.
Flight
Options is a FAR 91 fractional ownership airline based in Cleveland,
Ohio. As a Dispatcher, I help manage the daily operations of the
35 Beechjet aircraft in my department. I take the phone calls from
our pilots to process their flight data and relay the current itineraries.
I coordinate with other aircraft departments to cover trips that
encounter weather or maintenance delays. I arrange for every service
associated with the movement of our aircraft from the morning breakfast
catering to the airline travel for our pilots.
Besides
the respectable paycheck and benefits, I have access to the company's
King Air simulator and empty aircraft repositioning flights. I went
to Las Vegas last month on one of our Challengers. The captain even
let me take his seat for part of the flight!
Mike
Wason
From Richmor
I went to Mall Airways for 8 months where I flew co-pilot on Piper
Navajos and Beech 99's. From there I went to Brockway Air (Piedmont
commuter at the time) and flew Beech 1900's as co-pilot and than captain.
I did that from roughly fall of 1984 to the fall of 1987 where I went
to work for Continental airlines for 3 whole weeks.
America
West Airlines offered me a job at that point and off I went to Phoenix
to fly co-pilot on the Boeing 737. I was hired here in Nov 1987
and upgraded to Capt in Jan of 1991. That was short lived due to
bankruptcy so back to the right seat of the 737 6 months after I
upgraded. In addition at AWA, I flew co-pilot on the Boeing 757
and am currently flying captain on the Airbus A320 and A319. I've
been flying the "bus" for 6 years now and don't anticipate any changes
in the near future. My logged flight time is 15,600 hours.
For
fun I'm part owner of a Christen Eagle and a J3 cub to keep my hands
in the little plane flying.
Donald
Shaw
After
Richmor, I returned to Wisconsin for a commuter job that lasted about
a year, they went bankrupt. I was a Beech 99 First Officer. Then,
I got a job in Watertown, New York of all places flying Metroliners
for Chautauqua Airlines (dba USAir Express) in 1992. I
spent 3 years there.
I was
then hired as a C-130 First Officer at Southern Air Transport and
off I went to every where in the world, especially Africa where
I spent a lot of time in Angola.
Just
in time, I upgraded to First Officer on the B747. Great airplane
that went mostly to civilized places, primarily the Far East. I
spent about three years there, got an interview at America West
Airlines, got the job and I've been there 7 years now.
I still
live in Wisconsin but I'm based in Phoenix, where I'm a B737 First
Officer. I could have upgraded to captain, but my schedule would
go in the toilet if I did right now so I'm going to wait another
year for that. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Korey
Lemke
I worked
at Richmor as a Flight Instructor in 1985. I am currently living
in Mary Esther, Florida that is in the Destin, Florida area (near
Eglin Air Force Base). I also own a Maule MX-7 and flight instruct
only occasionally. I am building a hangar on the Yellow River Airport,
a growing fly-in community near Destin.
My
full time job is Internet-related computer programming for the auto
industry while part time I support the CRM needs of the Pan Am International
Flight Academy's Career Pilot Division (PAIFA).
I flew
for Command Airways/American Eagle from 1988 to 1996, logging about
4,500 hours in the Shorts and ATR. I was there at the right time
and became captain after only a year in 1989. It was great flying
around the Northeast. In 1993 or so, I spent a couple months flying
out of Miami around Florida and the Bahamas.
Before
American Eagle I built my twin time flying for a charter outfit
in Burlington, Vermont. I flew single pilot charters in a Beechcraft
Baron. It was a super job for some very nice people. The owner worked
for TWA and eventually became the 747 fleet pilot for TWA. The fellow
that I replaced in Vermont had also been a Richmor flight instructor
in Saratoga!
Just
before entering a full time flying career up in Vermont in 1987,
I had been working as an engineer on flight simulators in Binghamton,
New York (Link Flight Simulation, now CAE). I mostly worked on bomb
simulations for the F-111 simulator. At the time, I owned a Citabria
that I kept hangared on a grass field for only $40/month!
I had
gone to Link after Richmor, but in between I spent the summer of
1986 in Fairbanks, Alaska flight instructing. It was absolutely
beautiful up there. I would hang out with the single engine charter
pilots and hitch rides all over Northern Alaska in Cessna 207's.
Many times the fights were in the middle of the Alaskan "night"
which is to say, forever twighlight. I had one student that I taught
over the Summer and we actually had to wait until late August to
get any legal night time! I accompanied this same student on the
Fourth of July in 1986 to a real, honest to goodness gold mine outside
of Nome Alaska. Like I would do with Rit's planes, I didn't tell
the boss we would be landing on a homemade dirt strip in the middle
of no where.
So
prior to all that, I was a part time flight instructor at Richmor
while being the president of the Rensselaer flying club. Those were
some great years at Richmor and we had some super flying activity
from the college at Richmor. Your planes were always kept in top-notch
condition.
Bill
Tuccio
After
flight instructing at Richmor I went to Air Force Pilot training
and am still flying with the Guard across the way. I am a C-130
Instructor/Evaluator pilot. On the civilian side after AF pilot
training I flew for Pan Am Express (DH-7's, ATR's, Jetstream 3100's).
Now
working for United Airlines flew as a 727 engineer for 1 year, now
flying 767/757's domestically and internationally. Been with them
since 1995!
Mark
Sakadolsky
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